Dazzle Novak said:
The "chosen one" monomyth shit is my least favorite part of Star Wars. Luke being able to fly military vessels because he presumably flew the equivalent of a crop duster for funsies in Space Arkansas is contrived horseshit, too.
In Canon, Luke was only able to fly the mission against the Death Star in a New Hope after passing a flight simulation. One that he failed within 30 seconds on his first attempt. He only passed it after talking to Wedge, the best pilot among the Rebels. He then beat Wedge's performance, which is why he was allowed to fly. Wedge it should be noted survived all three movies and he was among the people who destroyed the second Death Star.
Dazzle Novak said:
That doesn't make it a good idea to repeat 40 years later and that contrivance was offset by the fact Luke doesn't get to use his lightsaber in combat or dabble in Space Wizardry at all in A New Hope. Obi Wan lets him play with it to train on the way to Alderaan and that's only to set up the "Don't trust your eyes. Use the force" bit in the finale. The whole movie Chekhov Guns Luke's "one-in-a-million" shot, so it feels earned. Rey can Jedi Mind Trick and force grab from jump simply because it'd be unfortunate for her if she couldn't.
I don't mind Rey being able to fly the Millennium Falcon. I cheered when she pulled that boss maneuver so Finn could line up his shot. I gave a pass to all the "I speak Wookiee and can fix anything" stuff. I acknowledge that Kylo Ren was grievously wounded. That doesn't mean I have to misremember A New Hope and act like Rey's arc matched Luke's. It doesn't. Luke could barely force grab his own lightsaber when it was three feet away in Empire Strikes Back. He was partially dismembered the first time he went against a lightsaber-wielding opponent who was holding back.
All this griping aside, I'm excited to pay and go see the movie a second time. Not everyone who's bringing up complaints are joyless haters trying to rain on the parade.
To be fair, I'm certain that Rey is Luke's daughter. She wanted to return to Jakku to wait for the people who left her there, presumably her parents. Anakin's old lightsaber seemed to call to her. And when she took hold of it, she had visions. I think some of those things may have been things she saw as a child, like Luke and R2. If true, she has just as much potential in the Force as Kylo.
I actually think it is possible that she may have had some training when she was young and might not remember it. Even if she doesn't, we saw her fight off some attackers on Jakku, Finn was rushing to save her until he saw she was winning. And even when she was fighting Kylo, she spent the first half of the running from him. It was only when she was cornered and Kylo commented on her needing a master that she was able to focus and win.
Beyond that Kylo was obviously holding back. He may have sensed she was family, but also seemed to want to train her. He was badly injured by Chewie, and not fully trained himself. And let's not forget that he had killed his own father. I don't think he was unaffected by that. The movie suggested that he was struggling with committing to the Dark Side, so I don't think patricide left him unscathed emotionally. And, people have already suggested that Luke's wife from the EU may be canon, and she was a Jedi. So, Rey could actually have far greater potential with the force than Kylo. All of which could explain how she could overpower him.
This is all speculation, of course. One of the movies strengths is that it didn't feel the need to sit down and explain everything to us. Instead deciding that we knew the basics of Star Wars and we are smart enough to figure out a lot of the background information with minimal explanation and context.
kris40k said:
Saltyk said:
On the other hand, Han was going to let her join his crew. And the Falcon needs at least two people to fly effectively. A pilot and co-pilot, if not also a gunner. So it's not like Chewie will be kicking her out of the ship. It may be his ship, but I fully expect Rey to be the pilot from here on.
Though, it would make sense for Chewie to be the official owner. He and Han have been friends for decades at this point and the both cared for each other, like brothers.
True, the ship does need a couple people to crew it well. My GF also mentioned that she could be his co-pilot, going forward. Which I think depends on how long of a time jump they are going to make between Ep.7 and 8. I suspect they are going to jump forward a few years, with some "flashbacks" showing Rey and Luke's initial conversations, so that when 8 starts off they can have Rey have a bit of training under her belt, Kylo Ren would have had time to head back to Snoke to "complete his training", and Finn will have recovered and joined the Resistance proper. During that time, I don't think that Chewbacca is going to playing dejarik with R2 on the
Falcon for a few years straight, so he's probably going to be going off-world a bit with the ship (maybe head back to Kashyyyk for a Life Day special.)
I think Chewie will be the co-pilot, even if it's his ship. He always took that seat and Rey seems like a competent pilot.
That seems like a fair guess for the next movie's timeline. It would allow for the characters to grow into their roles. Besides, the original movies obviously had rather extensive time skips between them.
I am curious to see how the characters come into their roles. Especially since it seems Finn is taking the role of Leia in the movies. The bad ass normal who comes up with plans and leads the forces on the ground.
